ASP Microcomputers provides solutions for 2011 census

In every case, the team has been able to provide a solution to any issue that has been presented to them.

According to representatives of the Data Processing Centre (DPC) in Melbourne "this system is critical to the day-to-day operations of the DPC, and ASP have delivered a system to meet our stringent security requirements, complex movement rules for the various pack types, management and reporting facilities, all in a user friendly intuitive solution."

Project Objective
Design an effective and secure real time census form tracking and reporting system for implementation at the Data Processing Centre in Melbourne.

Solution

• A real time barcode tracking system over a 802.11 wireless infrastructure across five levels of the DPC
• A barcode scanner program using ASP's middleware RFolution!™
• Custom designed labels
• Four custom developed PC applications - Label Printing, Configuration,Enquiry & Reporting, and Receipt & Registration
• Data replication using Microsoft® SQL server

Benefits

• Exceeded security requirement
• Freedom to move across all floors to scan packs over a wireless infrastructure
• Wide range of reporting
• Ergonomic and light weight scanners
• Rapid application development
• Fast data transmission
• Instant pack location

Hardware and Software

• Denso BHT303BW portable barcode scanners with 802.11 radio frequency transmission
• Datamax i4208 label printer
• ASP RFolution!™ middleware
• Cisco access points

Behind the scenes, conducting the census is an enormous and complex process.

Around 30,000 census officers are appointed, and each is allocated a Collection District (CD). These officers deliver the census forms to households before census night, then collect them afterwards.

The eighteen pages which make up the census form are collected and sent back to the DPC in Melbourne.

Over 800 people are employed to manage and process the more than nine million completed census forms that are returned to the DPC.

The challenge, once the forms have been delivered to the DPC, is to know where each of the forms are at any time within the four levels of storage and three processing floors.

Data Replication Solves Security Concerns
Security was of the utmost importance for the ABS, and this was achieved through data replication and a hardware firewall.

A new separate wired network was installed to connect the wireless access points (for the RF terminals) to a PC running ASP's RFolution!™ control software and an SQL database. This "untrusted" network was then connected to the existing "trusted" ABS network using a hardware firewall, configured to pass only database replication information.

On the trusted ABS network, a PC was set up to host a replicated copy of the SQL database, and this database is the one accessed by the PC application programs used by ABS staff for management reports and tracking information.

No actual census details or identifying information of any kind are passed over the wireless network, and because of the hardware firewall, it is not possible to gain access to the ABS network via the wireless network.

PC Programs
ASP developed four PC application programs for this system - Label Printing, Configuration, Enquiry & Reporting, and Receipt & Registration. All programs were written in Borland C++. These programs are installed on as many ABS PC's as required.

Census forms arrive at the DPC
The census forms arrive at the DPC in packs, marked with their "Collection District" (CD) number. When the packs arrive, various sorting and secondary checks are performed, and packs are consolidated with each pack containing about 100 forms. All packs from a particular Collection District are referred to as a CD.  A CD pack must move throughout the processes together and cannot be separated.

A custom Receipt & Registration program is used to enter the CD pack details into the system, allowing tracking to begin. A custom Label Printing program, together with a Datamax label printer, is then used to label each CD pack. This program prompts the user to enter the CD pack barcode number, and the number of labels to print, and the software then uses this and the information entered with the Receipt & Registration program to create the labels.

Each label also shows how many packs are in the CD, and approximately how many forms are in each pack, with this last item hand-written on the label. The barcode labels are pre-printed with coloured bars on the left and right edges, to indicate the state or territory of origin of the contents of the pack that the label is attached to, as a visual aid to ABS staff.

If you are interested in knowing more please don't hesitate to send a message.